Thursday, May 22, 2008

Video journalism's anti-aesthetism

I went for a run from my hotel in Chicago and shot about ten minutes of tape.

My goal was to produce a piece of work which in effect captures the essence of video journalism.

The theme emerged as I stepped out of the lobby.

The morning light was still, somewhat melancholic.

And as I pounded the path I went about catching images.

When I shoot I'm observing how movement and composition affect the type of story I'm producing.

News editors will say videojournalism editorialises, which it shouldn't. The camera should just record what's there. The reporter should remain neutral.

We can be impartial but being objective forces a philosophical debate: whatever you shoot introduces its own editorial bent right there.

One of the few times when academics/professional might argue less about the editorial nuance is when an event unfolds in front of you such as an accident, a riot, - all you need to do is point and shoot.

In effect this is the argument for Citzen Journalism: On the scene - point and shoot. The construct the preserve of the citizen trained as a journalist is a more complex matrix, involving deciphering complex matter in minutes and deciding how to move it on with pundits.

It's still an inprecise science, because oour choice of pundits can in itself be coloured. Objectivity huh!

Video story telling and journalismTV News' early strength, its safeness and comforting images, even in emergencies (You are advised the following shots are graphic) made it tea-time friend.

But not solely for the last point, but our own heighten visual literacy, changes in visual grammar, has created a new dynamic with what we percieve as "polished" news.

It was hollywoodised when it emerged and still is now, with immaculate looking people and aesthetic sheens which can often cut against the visual message of an item.

Often as a TV reporter I'd place you in a visually aesthetic setting that would match the prerequisite mis en scene.

In the townships of Katelhong whilst being scared out of my wits as we entered the killing zone, my role as the reporter was to process and rationalise before delivery. There were many time when my thought bubbles just went F***, F***, F***.

When I emerged from that story I swore I'd never do it again.

The one place I can say that, without being ticked off might be the newspapers, but it's dfinately in this 3d medium of narrative writing - blogs.

Video dilemma

And when we can't find an appropriate backdrop for video story telling, we reach for the proverbial potted plant to give "colour".

News. Video is life - people's stories, and the settings are what they are.

My idea of videojournalism captures the mood and scene as is. It is a mixture of on-the-fly documentary, but to undershoot

My ratio for a 3 minute film can often by 6 minutes. The students I work with often come down from 40 minutes to 12 minutes.

The scenes do need directing in the construct package: "where do you want me to stand?" is the usual refrain".

I try to be noncommittal.

"How do you know what to film and when and how can you edit on the fly?", a delegate asked in Berlin.

Whilst talking to her, I threw her a ball. She caught it whilst still talking.

In Minority Report, a similar question is asked of Tom Cruise's character about pre-cog.

He rolls a ball and his adversary catches it. Expectation can be instinctive, but also conditioned.

In other words it's by training and repetition that we learn this thing called video journalism. There's no smoke and mirrors to it.

Self FilmingThe shots of me running across the street give space to the scene. The A1 is small enough for me to place it somewhat clandestinely against a backdrop.

Though I am scouting to ensure no one with trainers or passing me a fleeting "lucky" look is in the vicinity . LOL

Digital can penetrate shadows and even when it's dark, so often I don't carry lights, most definately when I'm running, and to build up authorship; my judgement of the scene, I will either desaturate or adjust my blacks.

These can be found in FCP's colour corrector palate.

Here, I'm pulling up some sickly greens and browns. It's an anti aesthetic look: the mood, characters and visual dialogue are now instinctively captured to tell the story, even without actual dialogue with this case.

I've cropped it to 950x380 which gives it a more filmic sensation.

The music yes is important, but equally natural sound could have done the job.

I still believe it's an editorial call of using music in news packages, however we should pass the no-discussion approach.

This is a creative form, and if the signs of viewers abandoning news is anything to go by, and that's not entirely all down to the product, we'd do well to consider upping the anti on visual story telling, to be more compelling, more aggressive, subtle, in the thick of it when we tell stories.

These cameras can do things that beg fresh thinking and packaging processes.

2 comments:

alison williams
said...

Your piece on anti-aesthetism sparked thoughts about the way formal composition in paintings holds and communicates emotion. This seems to be something that people understand instinctively: reading the subconscious message. On a simple level, images that are composed on a broad-based triangle convey calm and security; invert the triangle and the emotion is uncertainty, danger. Might the video-journalist be unconsciously (in terms of the intelligent unconscious) composing on the fly to communicate the emotions s/he is feeling?

Channel 4's Jon Snow comments on David work as "original".

Twitter Updates

Twitter Updates

RTS Awards

What my blog is for

This blog is a distillation of broad concepts, academia and commercial practice. Please log onto Viewmagazine.tv where this experience is extended..

Viewmag blog is praised by blogger

Our editors recently reviewed your blog and have given it an 8.3 score out of (10) in the Technology category of Blogged.com.
This is quite an achievement! We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style.
Please accept my congratulations on a blog well-done!!
www.blogged.com

Professor and Blogger Jeff Jarvis on David

Nice things said about David's work and training

David is a trend-setter who is always one step ahead of the game in terms of journalism, video and digital media. He is inspiring and an innovator and I am constantly in awe at what he achieves and ideas he comes up with. He’s also an excellent teacher and mentor. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next!

David has touched a creative level that deserves an Oscar. More importantly he is paving the way for future journalists and will radically change the way we see news. A truly inspirational and dynamic character.

I presented viewmagazine.tv at a recent company meeting at NBC Universal for executives in digital media. This high-level media crowd was in stunned and amazed at the creativity and intellectual complexity of this dynamic website. A winner!

David has been changing the game since long before I met him. His work is always on the bleeding edge, his storytelling and design sense is always fantastic. This guy could make a story about paying your taxes look great and catch your interest!

David and I have never met, but he has been a cyber mentor to me for the past 18 months and has been a wealth of “thinking outside the box” information on the solo video journalist paradigm that has helped me form what I do and why.

With urgency, style, and provocation, David delivers credible and well-presented news stories. His work is as serious as it is entertaining. He pulls us into his “experiments” and leaves us to judge the approach for ourselves. It’s hard not to be influenced by his energy and enthusiasm.

A life-changing tutor and mentor - who ABSOLUTELY changed the world of video for my group of new VJs. His work is as inspiring as his teaching methods, and constantly challenging the best way to achieve results. His website and blog and compelling, must-follow sites for anyone working with video or multimedia on the web.

Subscribe To My Podcast and via google

Where you're from

Max hits

Subscribe

Blog Top List

Author's rights

Stuff (text, pics, movies) created by this author are in cases of commercial use, modified from viewmagazine's client base which does not affect their copyright. Please credit where used material on Outernet by linking or/and crediting to The Outernet/ viewmagazine.tv and its author. Passing of work here as your own infringes the author's rights